


The Roads Not Taken

by Fugitiveuser



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 16:30:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16391198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fugitiveuser/pseuds/Fugitiveuser
Summary: When we reach the end of our time. We often try our best to look back and rationalize the choices and view ourselves in the best light. But, what if you got a chance to do it over? To see what could have happened differently and influence yourself in a different direction. Would you make that leap and travel that road? Or would you hold to the choices that you made and see it through to the bitter end?Life is often not about the choices we make. But how we live with them....





	The Roads Not Taken

**Author's Note:**

> 'Ello everyone. So... this is going to be my first attempt at sharing a character that I have been writing with for the better part of a decade and placing his story down into a format where others can read and enjoy. If this goes well then I will start up a posting schedule... But for now, this is an outlet for a character that I have grown to love like a son. So... be kind and let's walk this road!

“What makes a hero, Jason?”

The words shot through his head as his eyes slowly opened and he watched the clouds go by above him. A frown formed on his face as he shook his head in confusion. “This.. this isn’t right. Fredric! Liath?!” His head whipped around as he saw a grassland that spread as far as he could see in every direction. His frown grew as he realized his perception was off and he brought his hands in front of him and saw the scars that ran his arms were no longer there and replaced were the smooth smaller versions of a child. “What is…” His voice was different as well, younger and more innocent sounding.

“What makes a hero, Jason?”

He spun around quickly, almost losing his footing as he stepped back with a start, and saw before him his grandfather. Dead for nearly twenty years. Standing before him looking hearty and well. He wore the same outfit that he had seen him in for years, a grey tunic with black pants and a weathered staff in his left hand. His grey eyes looking him over in the same appraising manner that he had seen so many times in his childhood. Jason felt an anguish wash over him as he moved to take a step forward towards him. “Grandpa… What is going on… I was in a battle an-” His words were cut off as he found that his body no longer listened to his commands. His grandfather dissolved into a black mist before the words echoed again. This time behind him.”

“What makes a hero, Jason?

Jason turned again and found his grandfather standing the same distance again but this time the look in his grandfather's eyes had changed into a darker and more serious gaze that he had only seen a few times in his life. Jason stood where he was instead of making any moves as his mind began to race as he weighed all of the possibilities that were before him.

_This isn’t a dream… it feels too real. This isn’t the past because I don’t have any memory of this, so what does this leave me? A message from the dea-_

“What makes a hero, Jason?”

His eyes snapped to his grandfather again as he sighed softly. _Might as well…_ He took a step forward as his brown eyes steeled themselves and he spoke the same words that he had spoken to him many years before. “A hero is someone who is willing to do what is right. A hero is someone who will put the greater good ahead of what of they may feel and do what must be done to protect others. A hero saves lives. A hero…. A hero does good.” He knew though as he spoke, that the words were wrong. His grandfather shook his head slightly in an almost chiding manner as he tapped his staff on the ground. Around him, he watched portals open and show images through his life. People and places he had been. Deeds that he had performed. Lives he had taken and lives saved. His eyes closed as he felt a pang of sorrow wash over him as some of those who had been lost caused him to break against the emotional barrier he had put up so long ago. “Why are you showing me this…”

“Because… you lack understanding. You claimed that a hero is willing to do what is right… But what is right, Jason? A village who comes under bandit attack calls for your aid because the ruling council is being targeted by those bandits. But you never knew that bandits were being led by a man who had his wife murdered by the same leaders that exiled him. Was it right that you stopped the bandits, killed the leader and allowed the council to walk free? You did not even ask as much as a single question or attempt to try and reason with those that you were hired to stop. You just 'did what was right'.” Jason winced at the words and he watched a young man scream in anguish as an older man plunged a dagger into a younger woman's back. He felt a cold anger wash over hm that quickly turned to sorrow as he recognized the anguished face as the bandit leader he had cut down in his youth. He moved towards the portal but again found himself frozen in place as the portal changed and his grandfather continued to speak.

“You said that a hero is someone who will put the greater good ahead of what they feel and do must be done to protect others. But have you done that? You have put your own feelings and desires before others. You have decided the fate for an entire civilization because of your own jealousy.” He watched the scene change and watched as his younger self challenge a tall elven figure to a duel. He saw the arrogance in his own face and he could remember the fire burning within him because he believed he was stronger and better for a woman who couldn't even bother giving him the time of day. Flames blurred the image but he did not need to see it to know the outcome. He had killed the man because he had felt a jealousy over another. He felt shame wash over him as his grandfather began to speak again. “As a result of your actions, his son came to power. When the war that you started came. He was ill prepared to defend his people and as a result, they were the first to fall. You damned an entire race because of lust and jealousy. Was that protecting others?”

“Stop it… You have made you-”

“You said that a hero saves lives… But how many lives have you taken, Jason Alexander Dramon?” Hundreds of portals opened and he watched himself take life after life. Hundreds of people cut down before him by his sword. More killed by his flames and darkness and each image focused on the person as the lights left their eyes. Each held on the expressionless face as his grandfather watched him with a careful interest. “This does not seem like the actions of a hero? How many of these deaths could have been prevented had you simply stopped to look at the situation overall.”

Jason said nothing as he felt an anger welling up inside him but he forced it aside. He had known these truths for many years. He had made mistakes in his life… more mistakes than he would ever care to admit. But never in his wildest dreams did he think that he had made these many mistakes and cost so many lives. _I am no better than Desmond… I am no better than the gods of old. I took the lives of men and women into my hand and believed I was the judge,the jury and the executioner._

“You said… a hero does good.” His grandfather smiled again as he reached out a hand to him to take as he spoke again. “You have tried to do ‘good’ throughout your life. But you have failed to take into account the basic truth of that word. Which holds a certain irony given the understanding and mastery of the powers that fuel you. Good and evil are subjective to those who speak the words. For you what is considered good may not be considered good by myself or others.”

Jason looked out at the hand and watched as the skin melt away into a skeleton hand and the image of his grandfather was wiped away into that of a figure hidden behind a dark hand with the same staff in one skeletal hand and another still held out in his direction. “You have failed this world, Jason… All has been lost. But it may not always be that way. To seek your future you must first repair your past. Together we shall watch your past unfold and find the moment that your past self-forgot the lessons that were passed onto him so long ago. Together… we can fix the mistakes you have made.”

Jason continued to stare at the hand for a long few moments before he shook his head slightly as he spoke one word. “Why?” And he could almost feel the smile form on the unseen face as the words came out in response.

“Because everyone deserves a second chance, my son.” Jason reached forward to take the hand and he felt a darkness wash over him that he had never felt before. A sense of cold swept over him and he realized with a start that this was the one feeling he had felt briefly before. He was dying. “But… we must begin anew. A sacrifice must be made in order for you to go back and try again. After all… you cannot change what has been written, Jason. It has already had its ink dry. But, I will give you a second chance. A chance to write your story with a different ending but you must choose where to edit. Your life will begin again and once more you will set out into the world trying to be a 'hero'. But this time Jason Dramon... this time you will be able to steer your new self in the right direction. This time you can correct the choices that you did make with the ones that you should have made. That is... if your new self will listen. ” Jason frowned slightly as he turned his head in confusion at the words as the pain began to hit his body like never before. His arms crossed over his stomach by instinct and soon he felt himself falling forward and onto his back as darkness began to encroach on his sense. “This new life will be your own that you watch… you will see many things you remember. But, every now and then you can help steer the passage of the story in the direction you want it. Maybe this time you can teach yourself what a hero is.” Darkness took his sight and the final thing he saw was a blue sky. Happy and undisturbed by the world around it.

 

* * *

 

 

Far outside the field and in a place lost to time and space, two figures in blood red cloaks watched the scene as Jason faded from existence. The room they stood in was shrouded in a darkness that seemed to defy the light that they stood in front of. A stone column stood a few feet above the ground where a white orb showed the fading image. The two remained quiet until the image faded into darkness before a soft chuckle echoed from the tallest of the pair and spoke in a soft tone that seemed almost childlike.

 

"His family does like to defy the odds... Once already they have stopped what is to come. Perhaps this one holds the same strength?"

 

"No, he has already lost. The Exiled One seeks to upset the balance. We must put a stop to this and allow events to occur naturally." The feminine tone of the shorter second answered harshly. "They had their chance and they failed. Genocide is the only answer. We must beg-" Her voice was cut off as an echoing click of the tongue stopped her as a voice from seemingly everywhere began to fill both their minds.

 

"Now now... The 'gods' were placed to watch over that world. They may have lost control but the game is not yet over. We have rigged much against them and you both know that we have meddled as much as the one we have exiled. So, we will give them this chance and we will see what good it will give them. We both know that in the end, it will do little to stop what we have planned. Patience my dear... The best is yet to come."


End file.
